This week the Minnesota Orchestra launches the Common Chords initiative, designed to create “one-of-a-kind collaborations between the Orchestra and communities around the state.” The first lucky city to participate? Grand Rapids, MN. Population 10,869.

In her recent post, Afa Sadykhly Dworkin argued that artists and organizations “have to build the sense of value and experience, one person, one family at a time,” and it appears that the Minnesota Orchestra has reached a very similar conclusion. Is this the future of “community” or simply a return to it?